I found, when I first started paper-piecing, that it REALLY helped to ignore the direction to cut your pieces 1/2 bigger than the pattern area. I went significantly larger than that (and still used very, very little fabric) and had no problems covering the entire pattern area and then cutting to the 1/4 inch seam. Although I've not had to do this, I have also heard someone say that they take a colored marker and mark over all of the lines that MUST NOT be cut, and that this helps them avoid the mistake of inadvertantly cutting off the 1/4 inch seam allowance.